Mapping Through the Ages: The History of Cartography | Baamboozle - Baamboozle

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Are you a fan of maps and geography? Do you know how maps were made before the age of digital technology? Test your knowledge on the history of cartography.

Study Slideshow

What’s the origin of the word “cartography”? Latin or Greek?

Greek. It's a compound word of χάρτης (map) and γράφω (write), i.e. map making

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Which people created the first type of map? The Babylonians or the Egyptians?

The Babylonians

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The first maps were carved onto stone tablets. True or False?

False. They were carved onto clay tablets.

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The first traditionally considered a map was produced by a Greek philosopher. True or False?

True. Anaximander created one of the first maps of the world, which was circular in form and showed the known lands of the world at that time.

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The first map produced by Anaximander represented the three continents known to the Greeks at the time, Europe, Asia and …

Libya

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Ptolemy believed that the Indian Ocean was wide open and was not surrounded by land. True or False?

False. He mistakingly believed that the Indian Ocean was a large body of water enclosed by land, stretching from South Africa all the way to Eastern Asia.

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The Romans knew of the existence of China. True or False?

True. The Roman Empire was aware of China as being on the edge of the distant world. Roman and Chinese items did pass through Persian and Indian merchants.

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The Chinese first created maps during the Roman Empire (27 B.C. - 476 A.D.). True or False?

False. The Chinese created maps even as early as the 5th century B.C.

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By the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), the Chinese had created large-scale, complex maps with symbols and cardinal directions. True or False?

True. The Chinese had developed cartography skills to show territories with landscape features such as river systems as well as roads, for economic purposes.

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In the Middle Ages, who was more advanced and accurate in cartography? The Europeans or the Arabs?

The Arabs. European medieval maps were mainly symbolic for religious purposes whereas the Arabs had begun a new age of learning.

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What is the name of medieval maps, T and O or V and O?

T and O: The T was the Mediterranean splitting Asia from Europe and Africa and the O was a global ocean which surrounded the continents.

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In the 13th century, what were Portolan charts? Navigational sea (nautical) charts concerned with coastlines and ports or topographic maps concerned with land features?

Navigational sea charts

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In the Renaissance, the traditional trade route between Asia and Europe was unreliable because of the Ottomans. True or False?

True. That’s why West European traders from Spain, Portugal, Holland and England began to search for other routes to India.

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In the 15th century, Columbus was the first European to discover the Americas. True or False?

False. Columbus wasn’t the first but he was the one to open up America to Europe.

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The first maps of the Americas were produced by Christopher Columbus or Juan de la Cosa?

Juan de la Cosa, a Spanish cartographer and explorer who sailed with Columbus and made the first maps of the Americas with sketches of the Caribbean islands.

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During the 17th century, maps were more accurately reproduced with advancements in printing. True or False?

False. During the 17th century, maps were still primarily made by hand and artistically drawn, with some assistance from early printing techniques.

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Mapping Through the Ages: The History of Cartogr ...